Zangetsu (Zanpakutō Spirit)
Zangetsu (Zanpakutō Spirit) is manifested spirit of Ichigo Kurosaki's Zanpakutō as well as his inner Hollow. He has been variously called Hollow Ichigo, more properly called The Hollow within Ichigo's conscience or White Ichigo. Physical Appearance Zangetsu appears to be virtually identical to Ichigo, except inverted in color. He is a fairly tall and lean-built being with pale white skin and snowy-white hair. His eyes consist of black pupils, dark yellow irises, and black sclera. He also has black nails. While Ichigo wears a standard black Shinigami shihakusho, his Zanpakutō spirit wears a white shihakusho with a black worn belt. He also has four black vertical, tattoo lines on each of his forearms, as well as his chest and ankles that are shaped like an "X", as well as black bands with white ends around his neck like a high collar, and a black long, tattered cloak with white markings tied around his waist that reaches his ankles. Personality Zangetsu's most distinguishing features are his maniacal laughter and psychotic grins. He is brutal, arrogant, disrespectful and sadistic, and acts like a psychotic maniac. He has no name, and his only reason for existence is to take over Ichigo's power and body and use it to kill everything and anything he sees, as opposed to Ichigo's desire to protect. Though he taunts Ichigo as being a weak and unsuitable counterpart of himself, he relishes the idea of taking Ichigo's powers for himself. Unlike Ichigo, he battles like a berserker, ignoring injuries and overpowering his enemies with brute strength and force. He protects Ichigo's body when he is about to die because if Ichigo dies, he will die as well. He seems to respect the manifestation of Ichigo's Quincy powers to a certain extent. Hollow Ichigo has declared Ichigo is the "king" of the inner world, and he is the "horse". He wishes to "take the crown" from Ichigo so he can have control over his body and become the dominant personality. After his loss, he states he is willing to allow Ichigo to keep the crown for now, but once Ichigo "screws up again", he will make his move once more. Early History Synopsis Abilities Master Swordsman Specialist: Zangetsu's skill in swordsmanship has developed alongside Ichigo Kurosaki's. His ingenuity in it is much greater than Ichigo's, for he can use his Zanpakutō in more versatile and effective maneuvers, such as using his Shikai as a flail, with which he has demonstrated tremendous aim and control of where and how it strikes. While Ichigo fights in a deductive and logical manner, Hollow Ichigo fights in a style more akin to a berserker, relying on instinct with little to no regard towards his own well-being yet makes no mistakes to his attacks. *'Deadly Darts': Zangetsu uses the cloth on his blade to swing his Zanpakutō and toss it at opponents for mid-range combat. The blade moves very fast when thrown, and its impact can damage a building. If the person dodges the attack, Zangetsu can use the cloth to manage the sword's direction and try to hit the target once more. By gripping the cloth, he withdraws the blade and swings it to attack again. Expert Hand-to-Hand Combatant: Drawing from Ichigo's experience, Zangetsu is a highly capable unarmed fighter. While mostly relying on his Zanpakuto in battle, he will occasionally use unarmed attacks to surprise and incapacitate his opponents. Enhanced Strength: Hollow Ichigo is much more powerful than Ichigo, allowing him to overpower Ichigo very easily. His physical strength is much greater than Ichigo's. He thrust his Zanpakutō into Go Koga's doll Dalk, while she was in her spider form, and effortlessly pushed her back with it. After taking over Ichigo's body, he grabbed Hiyori's throat, breaking most of her mask, and would have choked her to death if the other Visored had not interfered. He can thrust his Zanpakutō into or throw an opponent through a wall. Enhanced Speed: In addition to having greater raw strength, Hollow Ichigo is noticeably craftier and more agile in his movements than Ichigo. He can catch his blade in midair and perform a salto before landing. He can easily dodge a tentacle attack from Dalk or a surprise attack, and strike back as soon as possible. He grabbed Hiyori's throat before she could defend herself. His attack patterns are generally harder to read and keep up with, allowing him to strike down his opponent easier. Enhanced Durability: When the manifestation of Ichigo's Quincy powers fired a second Getsuga Tenshō at Ichigo, Hollow Ichigo took control and emerged from the destroyed wall with no visible damage. Highly Perceptive Combatant: Despite his arrogant and insane demeanor, Zangetsu is a very insightful and crafty fighter. While regularly mocking Ichigo, his mocking also has deep rational knowledge behind it which ultimately helps Ichigo come to better understand himself and his powers. Hollow Ichigo's intellect has also been useful in battle. He quickly realizes mistakes in Ichigo's battle tactics and corrects them, and almost instantly adapts to his opponent's battle tactics to perfectly counter them. Advanced Growth Rate: Like Ichigo, Hollow Ichigo has an astounding growth rate. He gains any power Ichigo does, evidenced by his use of Bankai. He could use the black Getsuga Tensho before Ichigo, despite both learning Bankai around the same time. His own Getsuga Tensho is incomparably stronger than Ichigo's. Vast Spiritual Power: Hollow Ichigo can emit a large amount of uncontrollable red-colored Reiatsu, which can pulverize the area around him. When Hollow Ichigo began taking over Ichigo's body, Ulquiorra Cifer, the Cuatro Espada, stated Ichigo's Reiatsu fluctuated from weak to higher than his own. His Reiatsu is great enough to visibly intimidate the Hollowfied Hiyori Sarugaki and the rest of the Visored. His Reiatsu is dark red. Mask Shielding: Because Ichigo's body is necessary for his very existence, Zangetsu protects it with his mask. During Ichigo's more difficult battles, he manifested the mask to block attacks on Ichigo's body from within his shihakusho, serving as a shield to stop or lessen attacks on him, sometimes saving his life. The mask blocked several hits from Renji Abarai's Zanpakutō, which could have been fatal. Although the mask was thrown away afterwards, it reappeared while Ichigo was fighting Kenpachi Zaraki, preventing his torso from being cut in two. Possession: Hollow Ichigo can take over Ichigo's body and powers when Ichigo falls unconscious in a fight. When this occurs, Ichigo's sclera blacken, and his irises glow golden-yellow in combination with a Hollow mask forming on the left side of his face. If the mask is broken or torn off, Ichigo will regain control over his body. During his time as the dominant spirit inside Ichigo's mind, Hollow Ichigo could call out to Ichigo, eventually interrupting his thought process, and try to take over in the middle of a fight. If Ichigo manages to drive him back, only his eyes will change for a moment, and the mask will not begin to form. Hollow Ichigo's influence is great enough to force Ichigo's eye to blacken while Ichigo is in his Human body. Hollow Form: When Hollow Ichigo takes full possession of Ichigo's body, the body undergoes a full transformation into a Hollow-like creature. His mask resembles a Human skull, complete with a jaw joint and rounded forehead, and has dark red stripes on the left side. This full Hollow is a white humanoid lizard with three-toed feet and a tail, with black marks all over its noticeably more muscular body. It possesses long orange hair and reptilian eyes seen through the eyeholes on its full mask. Unlike normal Hollows, this form used an actual weapon, using Ichigo's Zanpakuto. *'Cero': Zangetsu can fire a potent Cero from either his fingertips or his entire hand. This Cero is crimson and tri-focused. The blast is strong enough to overpower a Getsuga Tenshō from the manifestation of Ichigo's Quincy powers, throwing him into a nearby building with great force, and force Love Aikawa to summon his Hollow mask. *'High-Speed Regeneration': Like some Hollows, Zangetsu possesses the ability to instantly regenerate any wound and even a missing limb. *'Enhanced Getsuga Tenshō': Zangetsu's Getsuga Tenshō completely surrounds his blade. The extent of its power is currently unknown, for it has never been utilized in this form. *'Enhanced Spiritual Power': Even when only partially transformed, Zangetsu's Reiatsu greatly increases. Upon awakening, the Hollow form broke free from a full-powered Bakudō #75. Gochutekkan. *'Enhanced Strength': Zangetsu pushed back Kensei Muguruma with little effort and put all of the Visored on the defensive with brute force. It headbutted the manifestation of Ichigo's Quincy powers and sent him flying. *'Enhanced Speed': While in this state, Zangetsu's speed increases greatly. After breaking free from a Kido spell, he appeared behind Oko Yushima to attack him. *'Enhanced Durability': In addition to advanced recovery powers, Zangetsu is equally difficult to injure. After being elbowed and pushed back by Kensei, he got up and continued his assault. He can take multiple direct and close-range Hadō spells of at least mid-level completely unfazed. *'Extra Appendage': In his full Hollow form, Zangetsu can grow a large, worm-like appendage from various locations on his body (during his Visored training it emerged from his arm, and during his fight against the manifestation it emerged from his chest). This appendage will try to consume Zangetsu's current target. New Hollow Form: Ichigo later has his body taken over by Hollow Ichigo once again. This time, the full transformation is very physically different in appearance, and far more powerful than the previous one. In this form, Ichigo has long straight hair, reaching down to his waist, and a Hollow hole, smaller than his previous one, decorated with markings stretching from the hole across his chest and shoulders. He has retractable claws on his fingertips and toes, small, furry red tufts, two starting from his collarbone and stretching around his neck and one each on his wrists and ankles, and white skin. In this new form, he has a different Hollow mask. It covers Ichigo's entire head, and its markings are different, for it has four spike-shaped marks, two of them stopping by the forehead and the other two stretching past the eyes and teeth, going past his chin and joining with the marks on his chest. There are small marks resembling a heart, but with the top and bottom open, extending from the inner corners of his eyes. The mask features two long forward-pointing horns, with black strips extending from their center towards the tips. Hollow Ichigo has his own version of this form, with the opposite colors alternating black with white and vice versa. According to Karin, this hollowfied appearance almost looks similar to that of a Vasto Lorde (the highest Menos class within the Menos Grande). *'Chain': After transforming, Zangetsu called his Zanpakutō to his hand with a simple gesture. *'Immense Strength': In this form, Zangetsu can destroy a large portion of Las Noches' roof with the wake of a single slash of his sword. He easily tore off Ulquiorra's left arm without much resistance from his Hierro. He crushed Ulquiorra's strongest attack, Lanza del Relámpago, and forced it to collapse before Ulquiorra even got a chance to throw it. He easily slashed Ulquiorra from his left shoulder to his lower right hip through his Hierro. He can effortlessly throw a large portion of rock with a single hand. *'Immense Durability': Zangetsu's durability has greatly increased, allowing him to withstand several large explosions in his battle with Ulquiorra at close range with no visible damage. His skin and hands are strong enough to catch and hold onto Ulquiorra's strongest attack, Lanza del Relámpago, without any damage inflicted on him. *'Enhanced Cero': Zangetsu's crimson Cero has become exceedingly more powerful, completely overwhelming Ulquiorra's Cero Oscuras and causing large-scale destruction to a large portion of the surroundings. It is fired from between the tips of his horns. However, if one of the horns are cut off, he is unable to form the Cero properly, and any energy already gathered will implode. *'Sonído': Zangetsu moves at exceedingly fast speeds, appearing behind Ulquiorra and throwing his severed arm at him before the former could even turn to face him. Ulquiorra states his speed is not reached by the use of Shunpō; he actually uses Sonido. *'High-Speed Regeneration': After Ulquiorra shatters Ichigo's mask, the energy from his Hollow transformation went above him and came down as some sort of energy, which regrew the lost flesh which made his Hollow hole (as a result of Ulquiorra's Cero Oscuras that killed Ichigo) and fully healed him of his injuries from Ulquiorra, who commented on it to this effect. *'Issen Getsuga' (Lone Flash Moon Fang): In this form, Zangetsu fires a horizontal blast of red-black Reiatsu at an opponent. *'Mushin' (Heartless): In this form, Zangetsu rushes at opponent in midair and slashes them several times if he hits them. *'Hoko' (Roar): In this form, Zangetsu roars and release a massive amount of red spiritual energy, which damages all opponents around him. *'Cero Gigante' (Giant Hollow Flash): In this form, Zangetsu charges an enormous red Cero between his horns before firing it at the opponent, causing a massive explosion within the area radius. Zanpakutō Zangetsu (Slaying Moon): Since the inner Hollow Ichigo inherited from his mother fused with his original Shinigami powers, Ichigo's inner Hollow is also his Zanpakutō spirit. Hollow Ichigo and the manifestation of Ichigo's Quincy powers are both the source of Ichigo's power and share the same spiritual body in Ichigo's inner world, the stronger presence retaining more control (and overall appearance) of their body. Hollow Ichigo takes the form of an all-white (clothes and being), somewhat deranged version of Ichigo's new Shinigami form (after Ichigo regained his Shimigami powers the second time and fused with several traces of his remaining Fullbring) with a strong desire to take control of Ichigo's body and power for himself. Zangetsu originally used a black Zangetsu obtained from the manifestation. However, after he becomes the dominant spirit inside Ichigo's mind, Hollow Ichigo carries his own white version of Ichigo's Zanpakutō. *'Shikai': The Shikai form of Zangetsu resembles a large, elegant cleaver, which curves inward towards the backside of the blade's tip, causing it to resemble a trench knife with no tsuba. It has a long silver hilt, wrapped in light-grey cloth wrappings. The sword is as tall as Zangetsu (1.81 meters) and has a white blade with a black edge. The different between Zangetsu and Ichigo's Zanpakutō hilt is that Zangetsu's sword has a longer chain (up to his waist) with a broken link on the end, is attached to the hilt's base. He can use the long chain to swing his Zanpakutō like a flail for mid-range combat. The wide blade can be used as a shield for incoming attacks. As noted by Yoruichi, Zangetsu is a constant release Zanpakutō, meaning that it never returns to its sealed state, almost always remaining in Shikai. : Shikai Special Ability: Though Zangetsu is mostly used for close-range and melee combat, it has two certain special abilities: *'Getsuga Tenshō' (Moon Fang Heaven-Piercer): At the instant of the slash, the blade absorbs Hollow Ichigo's Reiryoku and releases highly condensed Reiatsu at the tip of the blade, which magnifies the slash attack and flies forward. This slash takes the form of a crescent moon or the shape of a wave. When Hollow Ichigo uses this technique, it is red in color, while in the physical world, it is black in color with a red outline. *'Meigetsu' (Harvest Moon): *'Bankai': Tensa Zangetsu '(''Heaven Chain Slaying Moon): Zangetsu's Bankai is considered completely out of the ordinary for any Zanpakutō. Unlike most Bankai forms, which usually create some sort of massive creature or effect, Zangetsu's Bankai actually shrinks his sword down to a nodachi (Field Sword) with a white blade, cross-guard, and handle instead. The white blade curves at the tip with three protrusions coming near the end of the blade on the blunt side. The cross-guard has four jagged, protruding prongs that take the shape of a manji. It also has a long white chain (which is at the same size at the chain in it's Shikai form), which attaches from the base of the hilt that connects to Zangetsu's glove, forming a wide loop. The blade itself is durable enough to withstand even the strongest of attacks, making it quite effective in blocking and deflecting incoming attacks, and can even withstand getting crushed by force. In addition to the sword, Zangetsu's white robe is replaced with a white long-sleeved, ankle-length coat with a black undercoat. The ends of the coat flare out into three long coattails with white and black ragged endings. The coat is held together by three white "X"'s which appear similar to the ones that appear on his body in his original state. Similar black markings appear on his forearms and the backs of his gloved-hands in Bankai. : '''Bankai Special Ability: *'Power Augmentation': **'Hyper-Speed Combat': Hollow Ichigo takes all the power of his Bankai and compresses it into a small, condensed form, which allows him to perform high-speed combat. His new speed allows him to move behind a Shunpo master like Byakuya and attack him. He can appear in front of a Shunpo expert like Ichigo, leaving no time to react. **'Enhanced Getsuga Tenshō': Tensa Zangetsu retains the use of Getsuga Tenshō, which can be used in the same manner, but in an enhanced form. When used in Bankai, these potent blasts, white with a red outline, can have their path controlled, and possess explosively augmented power and speed. When Hollow Ichigo uses this technique in the physical world, it is black in color. During Byakuya Kuchiki's fight with Ichigo, Byakuya refers to this attack as a "Kuroi Getsuga Tenshō" (Black Moon Fang Heaven-Piercer), referring to the attack's darkened color. Both Ichigo and Hollow Ichigo have stated the Kuroi Getsuga Tenshō was originally the latter's technique. He is also capable of using the Black Getsuga to augment his sword swings for close-range combat. **'Enhanced Meigetsu': **'Enhanced Strength': His physical strength increases greatly, shattering Byakuya's Senkei sword with his bare hand, and throwing Ichigo into a building, giving him a serious wound to his forehead as a result. His strength can even overpower a Bankai-enhanced Getsuga Tenshō from Ichigo without effort. **'Enhanced Durability': Unlike Ichigo, Hollow Ichigo took a short time to recover and did not get wounded after being thrown into a building. He can deflect Ichigo's Bankai-enhanced Getsuga Tenshō with a single unarmed hand without suffering any injury. **'Enhanced Spiritual Power': His Reiatsu is so intense and rough, as well as thick and heavy, it can suffocate Humans just by being in the general vicinity of his released Bankai, and easily surpass Byakuya's Reiatsu. His Reiatsu is solid in his Bankai, despite him only recently acquiring it. While in Bankai, Zangetsu's Reiatsu turns white, with a red outline. **'Enhanced Bankai Duration': Since all of his energy is compressed, usage of his Bankai does not expel as much Reiatsu as other Bankai from the point of activation, allowing him to use Tensa Zangetsu for a much longer duration than any other Bankai users of his level. *'Chiretsu Hogeki' (Earth-Rendering Felling Strike): *'Tenbu Renjin' (Swift Series of Heaven Dance): Relationships Allies * Enemies *Ichigo Kurosaki Theme Songs * Background in Other Media Trivia * Quotes * Battles & Events References Navigation Category:Characters Category:Male Category:Zanpakutō Spirit Category:Hollow Category:Bleach Characters Category:Tertiary Characters Category:Tier 7 Class Category:Anti-Heroes